I've known this girl since she was 7! It is so hard to believe that she is graduating soon! Serena is part of our family and has saved my butt babysitting my kids more times than I can count! We ♥ you Serena! Good luck as you finish out these last few weeks and prepare to start a new chapter in your life!

Ready to check out Ashley's amazing second half of her senior experience? If you missed the first part of her session you can check it out HERE! This time around we started at the Lima Fire Station in downtown Lima, Ohio. Having a firefighter dad, they thought it would be neat to snap a few shots there. Ashley still thought I was crazy with my posing but she did everything I asked her...usually with a face that cracked me up...but she did it. I think I said "you kill me" to her a 1,000 times lol

Part one of Taylor's Senior session...wowza! I have been shooting for long enough to know I tend to shoot serious. I have to remind myself to remind my client to smile. Taylor knew what she wanted when she came into this session and that was my wheelhouse...serious pictures. Man did she kill it! Taylor you are truly a sweet girl! Thanks for such a fun session and trying anything I threw at you ♥

I think Ashley thought I was crazy ;) Many times poses feel unnatural, well....because they are. I mean who stands around with their hands by their face or elbow up in the air lol. She constantly had this look on her face like umm ooookaaaay crazy lady I'll do that but it sounds silly :D Annnnd let's talk about how I had her doing this on main street. She is shy by nature and wasn't really digging that part, but she was a champ and her images turned out amazing. Have a stellar year Ashley! I can't wait for part 2 when I get to torture you some more... ;) ♥

My dream job is: Clinical Psychologist

My biggest accomplishment so far is: I got a varsity letter in Cross Country my freshman year

Anna was a trooper! Her session took place shortly after the dreaded month of rain ended. Things were just starting to dry out and still smelled a little swampy {Yuck} but worse than that, the pterodactyl sized mosquitoes were ridiculous! Anna's mom had bug repellent wipes which she graciously shared with me! The mosquitoes were so bad I was editing them off of Anna in her pictures!!

We had another insect encounter while I had Anna laying down in the field. A spider ran onto her face and over her eye! Now I'm not the type that wants to burn down my house when I see a spider but I do have a MAJOR issue with them in my hair or on my body. I did a little girl squeal while I tried to quickly brush it off her and just started saying, "get if off, get if off, get it off, I'm not going to tell you what it is!!" . She was working just as quickly as I was to get it off but I don't know that she knew what is was till she read this blog. {Sorry Anna!}

And to wrap up this buggy session I went home and found a tick in my underwear!! Yep, that's right folks...in my skivvies. I wanted to die! Thank you Jesus it didn't attach! I Promptly went to the store and found the highest DEET spray available.

Anna thanks for hanging in there with me! I promise this doesn't normally happen. I enjoyed our session and look forward to part 2 of your senior photo experience!

Ashley is Captured by Lydia & 12 Month Beauty's last senior rep! She attends Bath High School where she is a varsity cheerleader and part of the year book committee. Her momma is my personal hair stylist...(so check her out at Angela's Hair Design) We chose to shoot in one of the beautiful old buildings in downtown Lima, Ohio and out in a wide open grassy field in Shawnee. If you think Ashley looks familiar but can't place it...she has modeled for me before (see shoot). Ashley had a ton of ideas for her shoot and about a week or so before her session she started texting all them to me (23 photos to be exact, she told me later that she had more but didn't want to keep blowing up my phone lol) We started tossing ideas around about how and where, and I was able to get a solid idea of where she wanted to go with her images. This was the first time I shot in this building and I LOVED it. It is a photographer's dream :) I wish we would have had more time to explore, but we had to cut it short to fly across town to catch the sunset. The light in the field was so dreamy. Liz Flowers not only did the makeup for this shoot but actually joined us for the session. She was such a valuable contributor to the creative flow and always makes everything more fun ♥ Ashley you are a beautiful girl and a dream to photograph. You have been such an asset in the growth of my business this year. Thank you for modeling for me and sharing my name with your friends. I loved working with you ♥ I hope your senior year is EVERYTHING you want it to be!

My dream job is: an oncologist

My biggest accomplishment so far is: being able to balance two jobs, friends, and family on top of high school and cheer.

Plans after graduation: go to college to be an oncologist and make a difference.

Meet Kelli Miller another rep for Captured by Lydia & 12 Month Beauty. Kelli goes to Pandora-Gilboa High School, has a passion for photography, and the coolest tattoo behind her ear! Kelli has such a sweet spirit and I loved spending time with her ♥ We explored downtown Lima for our urban setting and went to a field across town to catch the sunset. Even though it can be unsettling to go from being behind the camera to in front of it (trust me I KNOW) she did an amazing job! I loved chatting with her about photography and sharing my knowledge with an eager mind! She was willing to try everything I had in mind including some hair flips...that didn't turn out :( the sun had set a little too much...but it was fun anyway :D One thing that was very important to Kelli was that we were able to capture an image of her with a picture of her grandmother. I wasn't entirely sure how we would do this when she first mentioned it but I think we final image came great! Thank you Kelli for trusting me to take your photos, you are so sweet and I hope you have an amazing senior year!PS. I ♥ your hoop...I mean I'm not partial or anything ;)

My dream job is: Early Childhood Education and help for hearing impaired students

Meet Captured by Lydia & 12 Month Beauty's first 2016 Senior Rep! This is Kirsten Carter of Apollo High School. She has a passion for cheerleading and is a member of the Rebels Cheer Squad. She was a total doll to work with! I showed up at Liz's house (Liz Flowers, 12 Month Beauty) to meet Kirsten as Liz was finishing her makeup and was surprised when I saw her fan club...ok I'm exaggerating, not her fan club, but she did bring her momma, bestie Ariana, and Zach Aka: Boyfriend. Side note: I'm not always the best with learning names on a shoot so if there are several people, I'll probably end up calling you by your title: mom, dad, boyfriend...you get the picture. We chose a huge property located between Shawnee and Spencerville. It had rolling hills, an apple orchard, and river. Did I mention this place was HUGE?! What a workout! We had a beautiful (slightly chilly) day with tons of sunlight and a gorgeous sunset. Every member of Kirsten's entourage was supportive but Ariana was just bursting with happiness for her friend and how pretty she looked for her pictures. She was so supportive with compliments and encouragement and I loved having her there! Thank you Kirsten for giving me the opportunity to photograph this important milestone! You rocked your session!